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Toronto election: A look at each candidates' personality

After Wednesday’s colourful mayoral debate between George Smitherman and Rob Ford, the question of character has become the predominant Toronto election issue.

By Robyn DoolittleUrban Affairs Bureau

Fri., May 7, 2010

After months of debate over bike lanes and road tolls, a new issue has captured the limelight in the race for mayor: character.

At Wednesday’s mayoral debate, George Smitherman attacked Rob Ford over comments the councillor made about the gay community and AIDS in 2006.

Ford avoided the issue, choosing to rhyme off a list of community achievements and declaring he wasn’t prepared to get “personal.” But the exchange raised an important question. With so many colourful candidates vying for the job, many of whom are no stranger to scandal, how does personality and the past factor into the mayor’s race?

ROB FORD:

City hall’s most bombastic councillor is a magnet for controversy, yet neither he nor the constituents who re-elect him seem worried about it.

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From calling colleague and mayoral rival Giorgio Mammoliti a “Gino-boy” in 2002, to lying about — and eventually apologizing for —drunkenly shouting profanities at a Maple Leafs game (2006) to declaring “Oriental people work like dogs . . . they’re slowly taking over” (2008), Rob Ford is no stranger to scandal.

GIORGIO MAMMOLITI:

Giorgio Mammoliti, a man who has mused about red light districts and calling in the army to battle gangs, has had his share of controversy. As an MPP, he was one of the loudest critics of legislating same-sex spousal benefits.

Mammoliti declared in the Legislature: “Many say: ‘Well, it’s behind closed doors. What happens in my bedroom my children won’t even see.’ I don’t believe that argument for one minute.

“I believe that children pick up from their parents and if we extend the definition of spouse and open up traditional families, those children will be influenced in a way that we’ll never, ever forget.”

Mammoliti also cited AIDS statistics that suggested the disease is spread predominantly in the gay community.

JOE PANTALONE:

Despite serving nearly three decades as a city councillor, Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone has never committed a noteworthy gaffe or found himself embroiled in any lasting scandal.

ROCCO ROSSI:

Rocco Rossi, as he often says, is not a “career politician.” But back in 1987, a then 25-year-old Rossi wrote a column for the Star. In one story, written on the heels of royal visit, Rossi called for an end to Canada’s relationship with the monarchy. By today’s standards, it’s a pretty tame opinion. At the time, it drew sharp criticism from readers.

GEORGE SMITHERMAN:

Furious George and his famous temper have landed Smitherman in the hot seat before.

In 2001, he called then health minister Tony Clement a “schoolyard pansy” for suing Dalton McGuinty after the premier accused Clement of being corrupt.

“If you’re going to be some sort of schoolyard pansy, who every time something tough is said you’re going to run to the schoolteacher and complain about it, then you have no place in politics,” said Smitherman.

He was also accused of making a sexist remark when he repeatedly referred to his Conservative predecessor, Elizabeth Witmer, as “that woman” during a parliamentary debate in 2004.

Smitherman immediately apologized.

SARAH THOMSON:

Sarah Thomson first made a name for herself in Hamilton when she ran for alderman at 29. Four candidates were in the hunt for two positions. Thomson placed fourth with 3,059 votes, just over 1,000 votes behind second place and 1,500 behind first.

But Thomson recently told reporters she lost by only a few hundred votes. At Wednesday’s debate, she apologized, said her memory was fuzzy and that in the future, she would double check figures before speaking with journalists.

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